All I Ask Of You
by Labrynth
Summary: Liz confronts Max after her blind date.


Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. Simple as that. This one is for my roomie, clover, who said "Write a Max & Liz fic!" So I did. Takes place right after Blind Date. I always wanted to see Liz do this. 

*******

All I Ask Of You

  
"Hey." His voice was soft, but it hit her like a sledgehammer anyway. She felt her lungs deflate as the air suddenly seemed to leave them.

"Hey," she replied. Her attention was focused somewhere that wasn't him. Maybe to the sky the stars. He wasn't sure. Did it matter?

"How are you?" So much in one little question, so much, but still not enough.

"Fine." Still, she didn't bother looking at him.

He sat in one of the chairs close to her, but didn't pick the closest. She didn't seem to be in the mood to have him next to her. Studying her for a moment, he sighed. Obviously this was going to be as hard as he had imagined.

"Liz," he started, "I just wanted to say Say I'm sorry. I know that I hurt you and -"

Nothing came from her mouth, but the icy look she gave him was enough to silence him. At first Max thought she might say something and when she didn't, he tried again.

"I didn't mean to hurt you Liz. I'd never hurt you if I could help it." He stuttered over his words, but somehow managed to get them all out.

"Funny," she said as she looked back to the sky. "Hurting me seems to be all you ever do these days."

He winced. That hurt. Never, in a million years, would he ever hurt her intentionally. For a while he felt she knew that, but now now there had just been so many times. So many things to say "sorry" for.

"You know I don't -"

Again she cut him off, this time with words instead of a look. "Oh you don't mean to. You never mean to. But that doesn't do any good now does it Max?" Brown eyes locked onto his and he saw none of the warmth there that he had grown so accustomed to seeing. Instead he saw bitterness and anger. Her tone, however, was airy and dismissive. "Never mean to, but somehow it always happens. I'm done Max. I don't want to be a part of it any more."

The words hit him hard making him feel like he slammed into a brick wall at a hundred miles and hour. If the chair hadn't had a back on it, they might have knocked him over.

"Huh?" was all he could manage. This was Liz. Liz who loved him. Liz who was always there for him. Always forgave him.

"I'm done. You made me a part of this. Of your little secret. But you don't trust me to keep it. You don't trust me to do anything. All you do is tell me you love me, then keep me at arm's length. I'm done. I won't do it any more. I won't fight for someone who doesn't really want me. I refuse to be constantly pushed aside because of your problems." She never raised her voice, never yelled, screeched or wailed. But it was enough. Enough to make the livable atmosphere go out of his world. "I've got enough to deal with Max. And once I might have gladly taken on your problems as well, but I just don't care any more. If you don't care enough about me, if you can't let yourself care, then neither can I."

Max blinked then closed his mouth. His lungs felt empty, and he struggled to keep from gasping for the air he knew was there. With a deep breath he tried to fix it. Tried to make it right.

"Liz, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what else I can do. I know you're upset, and I know you're hurt, but I love you. I've always loved you." Thoughts whirled around in his mind and no matter how quick he was, he wasn't quick enough to latch onto any one of them.

She didn't give him the chance to say anything else. Instead she rose and stepped to the ladder he had climbed only a few minutes before. Turning to look at him, her voice was once again even as she spoke. 

"You know what Max? I just don't give a damn any more. You can bare your soul to me one night, and in the same night you can deny anything ever happened. I don't have time in my life for that kind of hurt." An indication to the ladder. "Good bye Max."

Liz turned and walked deliberately to her window, then slipped inside. Never once looking back.

*******

He had stood there for nearly fifteen minutes, stunned. After she has gone inside, she didn't look again to see if he had gone. When he got home, Isabel asked how it went. While not the world's biggest advocate for the relationship, she also had no desire to see either of them hurt. His lack of words told her all she needed to know. He would hear none of what she had to say however and she had finally given up.

Now he stood in the quad, scanning the people for the person who might be able to help him. Who might be able to fix it.

Spotting Liz and Kyle across from him was nearly enough to send him running. But it was also enough to make him want to reach out and strangle Kyle. 

There. Maria. She would be able to set it right again.

Avoiding the couple at all costs, Max skirted the edge of the grass and made his way towards her. Nearly colliding with her in his haste to catch up, he reached out to catch her, only to have his hand smacked away.

"What do you want?" she asked, obviously in no mood for him either.

"Tell me how I can get her back." Max hated the desperate tone in his voice, but he couldn't help it. The thought of living a single day without her was enough to send him teetering on the edge. Knowing that she might hate him was enough to send him over. There had to be something that would fix things.

"Why should I help you after what you did to her," Maria demanded. "You hurt and humiliate her, and as if that wasn't enough, you do it in front of how many people? Oh sure, she should be jumping for joy at the thought of you coming back to her." The girl snorted and turned away.

"Please," he pleaded, reaching out to stop her. "Maria, you have to help me. I didn't mean to hurt her, I swear."

"Yeah," she said with a smirk, "They always say that don't they?"

Maria stormed way, leaving Max to watch her retreating form.

*******

The drive had done him no good. Only reminded him that he had taken Liz there once. Of course he had ended up in the hospital that time, but that was another story. Finding himself back in town once again, he began to retrace his steps. The steps he had taken with her that night.

It was true, he didn't remember. Occasionally, he would see snippets of what had happened between them in his head. But it all seemed so blurry, so vague. Like he was seeing it through some kind of clouded looking glass. Or through some kind of fog at the end of a long tunnel.

The car alarm, the sparkling parking meters, the moving light from the street lamps. All very vague, but obviously he said something something Liz had taken to heart. And then he had torn it away, taking her heart with it. With a sigh of defeat, he dropped to the concrete of the sidewalk and closed his eyes. Maybe if he were lucky, a run away car with no driver would come flying down the street, jump the curb and just wipe him out. Put him out of his misery.

"Well Evans, I see you've been shot down again." The voice caused him to look up and groan. Obviously the speeding car was too much to ask for.

"What do you want Kyle?"

Parking himself on the pavement next to Max, Kyle thumped him on the back.

"Nothing Evans, just sharing your misery is all."

"Funny," Max replied, scowling slightly at the other boy, "Didn't look like you were in any kind of misery this morning."

Shaking his head, Kyle sighed. "I'd love to tell you that you're right Evans, but I can't. She shot me down this afternoon. Told me she just wanted to be alone for a while. 'Without a guy to worry about' I think were her exact words." 

"Ahh."

"So what's the deal Evans? I never thought I'd see the day when she wouldn't look at you." Kyle watched him carefully.

Max frowned, shrugging a shoulder slightly. "Wish I knew exactly. She's mad at me for something I did the night of her blind date."

"Oh," Kyle nodded knowingly, "She's mad about the whole drunk thing."

"No," Max corrected, "Not exactly. She's mad at something I said or did then, but I can't remember what it was." He turned his head to look at Kyle intently. "Do you remember?"

"Remember what?" Kyle asked with a snort. "I remember going to your house. Remember you driving to the restaurant. I sort of remember being on her balcony. Then we were in her room. I got stuck with her date and you took off with her. That's all I know."

"I don't even remember that much," Max told him. "I remember you showing up at the house. Saw him kiss her. And that's it really. Bits and pieces I guess, but nothing I can put together."

"Oh!" Kyle was nearly jumping around on the pavement. "You don't remember spray painting her wall? Not sure what you did with the paint can later, but you made that big heart on the wall"

With a frown, Max looked at Kyle. "Painted her wall? I did what?"

"Oh yeah Evans, it was classic. You painted her wall, put both your initials in it. Done up all nice and cute. I bet that's what she's mad at you for. Vandalism is not the way to a girl's heart. Even I know that one."

"Painted her wall?" Max whispered to himself. Shaking his head, he sighed. He still didn't remember. 

Kyle watched the other boy for a moment, then shook his head. "Wow Evans, that stuff must have hit you hard if you don't even remember that. That was big Evans. Huge even."

"I guess." With deliberate movements, Max reached out and clasped Kyle's shoulder tightly. Running the risk of the connection going backwards, he looked at he other boy and pushed. Flashes of them together. Him calling Kyle a jackass. Getting to the awning of the store. Racing Kyle. Ah, there. Putting the heart and initials on Liz's wall. "I told you I don't drink Kyle. I guess all I can do now is blame it on the alcohol." Max dropped his hand, letting the images fade away. He had seen enough.

"I feel for ya Evans," Kyle said as he rose from the ground. "It's hard to let something like that get away. I feel your pain." Another thump on Max's back. "Later Evans."

"Later," Max said as Kyle walked away.

The heart painted the heart. He couldn't remember - wait Standing there with her making it glow. It suddenly came to him like a shot. Liz had smiled at him then. With a groan, he dropped his head into his hands. That wasn't all. Somehow he knew that deep down. Even though he couldn't remember it, he knew anyway. It wasn't all, and what he couldn't remember was what has sent her over the edge.

*******

"Isabel, I need a favor."

She eyed him carefully, not sure where this had come from. "What is it Max?" Her voice was neutral, telling him she hadn't decided yet.

"I'd ask Michael, but he'd only get mad and I'm not sure he could do it honestly."

"Spill it Max," she said impatiently, looking back down at the magazine sitting in front of her.

"I need you to connect with me. Find out what I did when I was drunk."

Isabel looked up at blinked at him. "Drunk? When were you drunk?" Dropping the magazine, she leaned forward.

Max felt his chance slipping away. "The night of Liz's blind date. Kyle and I -"

"KYLE?!" she yelled, cutting him off. "What the hell were you doing with Kyle?"

"Nothing I mean, I don't think. Look, he came here and he was drunk. Starting going on and on about how if I didn't drive him around he was going to stay in front of the house. Mom and Dad were going to be home soon, I didn't want them to see that. So I drove him where he wanted to go to the restaurant where Liz and her date were." Isabel rolled her eyes but didn't interrupt. "And we watched and they kissed. Then they took off. Kyle told me to drink some of what he had. I didn't want to I mean we have no idea what stuff like that can do to us. But he kept pushing." Max dropped his head in shame. "I took a drink, just to shut him up."

"And?" Isabel demanded.

"And it works better on us than humans I guess. Just one drink and I don't remember the night really. I remember bits and pieces of it. Just flashes of things. But nothing I can put together." He raised his eyes to look at her. "I don't know what I did Isabel. I know I should be worried about what I might have shown someone, but right now all I can worry about is what I did to Liz that has her so mad at me."

"You've got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed, jumping off the bed to face her brother. "You get drunk, lose control of yourself and all you can worry about is what you did to Liz? Max, you could have used your powers in front of anyone! Do you have any idea what that would mean?"

"I know," he whispered. "But I still have to know what happened. I might have done something else we have to worry about, but I have to worry about Liz. I hurt her bad Is."

With a dramatic sigh, she reached out for him. "Fine," she ground out as she clasped his hand in her own.

The connections they formed with one another had always been stronger, easier to do. Easier to control. But this time everything was jumbled, mixed together like a badly edited movie. The pictures didn't flow like she was used to, instead the jumped, jerked from one scene to another. Processing them as they came, Isabel started to see the whole picture. "I'll try to put them together," she said slowly as she reversed the connection, allowing him to see the things she saw.

"Oh God," Max groaned as the pictures came at him. What had he done?

"Well, I guess we should be lucky Liz stopped you from doing anything stupid and that you at least had the presence of mind to make Kyle turn around before partaking in vandalism." Isabel glared at him, but the look soon softened. "Max Liz" She sighed and tried again. "You need to patch things up with her Max. At least to the point that she doesn't hate you. I know you didn't remember anything, but I doubt she's so sure of it. You need to talk to her. If nothing else, she saved your ass, our asses, by not letting you do anything too terribly stupid."

*******

He traced the lines on the wall, wondering why she hadn't bothered to get rid of it. Maybe she had tried and couldn't. That thought depressed him. There was no reason for it to be there if she hated him that much. Max would have to ask her if she wanted him to get rid of it. A finger trailed over her initials and he sighed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked from the window. She was still in her waitress uniform.

"Thinking," he replied. "Shouldn't you be downstairs?"

"I was until someone came in and told me I had an intruder on my balcony." Liz eyed him askance. "If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have bothered."

She turned, ready to leave him once again. Max felt his heart shatter, the pieces falling at his feet. Shards as sharp as glass.

"Liz, wait. Please." He wasn't ashamed to beg. 

Red flared in her aura, letting him know just how annoyed she was. Anger he could handle, but it was the sickly, oily green splotches indicating deep sadness that made him wish he could fall apart as his heart had done. Then she could sweep him off into the street and it wouldn't hurt any more.

"What Max?" Irritation flared in her voice and made the red splotches in her aura even brighter.

The tears threatened, and for once he didn't care. Holding out his hand to her, he closed his eyes. 

"I remember," he said slowly. "Well, sort of. It's all jumbled up, but Isabel tried to put it together as best she could." Liz was watching him, sadness and regret coming from her in waves. "I'm not sure how it looked when she saw it first. She didn't want to look at it, but I asked her to. I had to know what I did."

Max opened his eyes. "I would take it back if I could Liz. I'd take back every second of pain you've felt because of me." His hand dropped to his side. "I'd suffer it tenfold if I thought it would help. If I thought I could repair the damage I've done"

Liz said nothing, simply stood at her window, watching him. Her aura had dimmed, which cut him that much more. Slowly, he turned to the vandalism on the wall. With a shaky hand, he reached out to touch it. The glow was bright, brighter than that night.

"I love you Liz," he whispered. Tears slid silently down his cheeks. She wasn't going to forgive him. If the Earth swallowed him whole right now, it would be well deserved.

Tracing the lines with a finger, he took a deep breath. Still unable to look at her, he offered, "I'll remove it if you want."

"No." The word was pained, making him even more unable to look at her. To see the pain in her face, to feel it coming from her. To see it color her aura. Her hand brushed his shoulder lightly. "Leave it there. I like it."

"If that's what you want." There was nothing left for him to say or do. Nothing that would repair the damage he had done to her. Nothing to take away to stains in her aura.

Max turned to go, still unwilling to look at her though he knew she was close enough to touch.

"Max?" The words stopped him, but didn't make him turn.

"Yeah?" His voice held a tremor he couldn't hide.

"I just can't do it." He felt the words slice through him. "I can't be with you one minute, then have you decide it's too dangerous the next. I can't take it."

"I understand." Grief and sorrow were so thick within him he thought they might stop his lungs from expanding stop him from breathing. Had his heart not already been broken it would have easily been crushed.

"I love you too much for that Max. I can't have it thrown back in my face. If you want to be with me, then be with me. It's that simple. I don't care about Valenti. I don't care about what Isabel and Michael say. All I care about is that we're together and together for good. Not to be apart on some whim, or because someone suddenly decides it's too dangerous. So what? Either one of us could die tomorrow we could get hit by a car, could get hit by lightning anything. So what's the difference between that danger and any other kind of danger?"

Silence. He couldn't think of any words to say.

"It doesn't make sense Max. Why can't you love me as much sober as you did drunk?"

The words were so startling to him that they forced him to turn. Forced him to take her by the shoulders.

"Never think that!" he demanded. "Never think that I don't love you!"

"Then why do you always push me away?" she whispered.

His mouth opened, the words he always said on his tongue. But this time they wouldn't come out. This time they weren't good enough. He couldn't force them out, couldn't make them leave his mouth.

"I don't know." 

"All I ever asked of you was to love me. I didn't know it was that hard."

Hauling her close, Max wrapped his arms around her. Holding her as tightly as he dared, he buried his face in her shoulder.

"It's not. Oh God Liz, it's not. It's too easy." A kiss to her neck. "I love you too much. If anything ever happened to you because of me because of what I am I'd die. I'd want to die."

Her arms wound around him slowly. "You can't live like that Max. You can't put off something just because of something that _might_ happen. It's not fair to either of us."

Dropping to his knees, he clung to her, pressing his face against her stomach. 

"Oh God, I'm so sorry. Please, just forgive me I'll do anything"

Fingers stroked his hair a moment, then she moved to her knees. With a finger under his chin, she forced him to look at her.

"All I ask is that you love me."

"Noting will ever change that."

"Then show me."

Max pulled her close, his lips on hers before his mind could mess it up with words. Kissing her deeply, he poured himself into it, into her. It was the only way he knew to prove to her to make her understand. She returned the kiss and he felt his heart slowly melt back together. Reform, leaving a piece of it behind with hers.

The red glow of the graffiti bathed them in unearthly light.


End file.
